Man...that's really it, huh?
As much as I love Pac-Man World and have a lot of fun with the Championship Edition games...this is really all we've gotten in this style? I can't exactly say that I'm surprised that the soundtrack is the only thing about this game that's ever brought up. Maze Madness feels more like a proof of concept than anything else. Where Pac-Man World got a sequel that took its foundation and polished it into a damn good game, here it's just...nothing.
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this game! The classic maze formula brought into 3D with a focus on puzzle solving, that's great! I love it! The game never really feels like it gets off the ground though, it just always feels like it's missing something. There's only so many ways you can push ice blocks and TNT to solve puzzles before it starts to feel samey. I was waiting for the game to really test my abilities or introduce some whacky new gimmick to solve puzzles with, but..it never happened. The game never goes beyond just "good."
Instead the game artificially extends its runtime with the worst padding I have ever seen. See I actually don't mind that you have to go out of your way to collect as much as you can in levels in order to progress. It's Pac-Man, I want to collect all the dots and fruit anyway. The problem is that the game will lock you away from collecting things in a stage at first so that you HAVE to play it a second time later on. The witch's key is the dumbest thing this game throws at you. You don't unlock it until you enter the final world in the game, and it unlocks paths in previous levels you couldn't access before for no real reason! On top of that, this is the same point where the game roadblocks you, and doesn't let you progress until you've collected enough in older levels.
Once I realized that all you get for doing this is a rematch with World 4's boss, which is the only boss fight in the game by the way, and then the game just ends...yeah, no thanks. I'll pass.
Unfortunately we're probably never going to get another game like this ever again, and it's a real shame. There's plenty of potential here, and I would've much preferred another crack at this formula over a 3rd World game and that stupid reboot they did, but oh well, what can ya do.
As much as I love Pac-Man World and have a lot of fun with the Championship Edition games...this is really all we've gotten in this style? I can't exactly say that I'm surprised that the soundtrack is the only thing about this game that's ever brought up. Maze Madness feels more like a proof of concept than anything else. Where Pac-Man World got a sequel that took its foundation and polished it into a damn good game, here it's just...nothing.
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this game! The classic maze formula brought into 3D with a focus on puzzle solving, that's great! I love it! The game never really feels like it gets off the ground though, it just always feels like it's missing something. There's only so many ways you can push ice blocks and TNT to solve puzzles before it starts to feel samey. I was waiting for the game to really test my abilities or introduce some whacky new gimmick to solve puzzles with, but..it never happened. The game never goes beyond just "good."
Instead the game artificially extends its runtime with the worst padding I have ever seen. See I actually don't mind that you have to go out of your way to collect as much as you can in levels in order to progress. It's Pac-Man, I want to collect all the dots and fruit anyway. The problem is that the game will lock you away from collecting things in a stage at first so that you HAVE to play it a second time later on. The witch's key is the dumbest thing this game throws at you. You don't unlock it until you enter the final world in the game, and it unlocks paths in previous levels you couldn't access before for no real reason! On top of that, this is the same point where the game roadblocks you, and doesn't let you progress until you've collected enough in older levels.
Once I realized that all you get for doing this is a rematch with World 4's boss, which is the only boss fight in the game by the way, and then the game just ends...yeah, no thanks. I'll pass.
Unfortunately we're probably never going to get another game like this ever again, and it's a real shame. There's plenty of potential here, and I would've much preferred another crack at this formula over a 3rd World game and that stupid reboot they did, but oh well, what can ya do.